RETORT 



RETZ 



671 



Coast Battalion Royal Engineers, inspectors of 

 army schools, riding-masters, and quartermasters 

 can earn a maximum pension of 200 a year, or the 

 two first mentioned classes if retired for age (fifty- 

 five years) may receive the full pay of their rank. 

 For the Royal Malta Fencible Artillery the maxi- 

 mum rates of retired pay are captains, 200 a year ; 

 majors, 300 ; lieutenant-colonels or colonels, 365. 



Departmental officers receive retired pay at rates 

 corresponding to those granted to other officers 

 and on similar conditions as to age. Some of the 

 highest rates are chaplain-general, 600 ; com- 

 mi*-arv-gpneral, 800; director-general, Medical 

 Stall', 1125. 



The army estimates for 1891-92 provide for a total 

 of 1,853,632 on account of retired pay and gratui- 

 ties (1,543,950), half-pay (75.550), allowances to 

 widows, &e. (164,563), rewards for distinguished 

 services (12,400), pensions for -wounds (15,200) 

 for officers ; for warrant officers and non-commis- 

 sioned officers, 1,856,207. In 1898-99 the corre- 

 sponding figures were 1,938,206 for officers, and 

 1,802,335 for warrant officers, &c. 



In the navy officers are placed on the retired 

 list at sixty-five years of age if admirals or vice- 

 admirals, sixty for rear-admirals, fifty-five for 

 captains, fifty for commanders, and forty-five for 

 lieutenants, with the option in each case of retiring 

 five years earlier. Lieutenants and commanders are 

 also retired compulsorily if they have not served for 

 five years afloat, captains after seven years without 

 service, and flag-officers after ten years. In 1891-98 

 there were some 2500 naval and marine officers on 

 the retired list, costing about 760,000 a year. See 

 PENSIONS, DISCHARGE. 



Retort, a vessel employed by chemists for the 

 purpose of distilling or effecting decomposition by 

 the aid of heat. It may be made of glass, earthen- 

 ware, or metal, according to the purposes for which 

 it is to be employed. Glass retorts are the most 

 common, and their ordinary form is seen in the 

 figure. They may be employed for the production 





Retort fitted with Liebig's Condenser : 

 A. bulb of the retort, into which the liquid to be distilled is 

 put ; D, the receiver, into which the end of the retort is 

 placed ; BB, the condenser, receiving a supply of cold water 

 from E by means of the pipe C, the heated water escaping at 

 F ; G, the heating apparatus, a Bunsen burner in this case. 



of onch products as do not require any extraordinary 

 degree of cold for the condensation of their vapour 

 as, for instance, for the production of hydro- 

 cyanic or nitric acid. The globular vessel in which 

 the neck of the retort is inserted is from its function 

 termed the receiver. Cold may be applied to the 

 neck of the retort for the purpose of condensing 

 the vapour in various ways, as by the application 

 of a cold wet cloth, by a current of water, or by a 

 Hix-riiil apparatus known as Liebig's Condetiser, 

 shown in the li'-ure at I!l>. 



In ordinary cases requiring a higher temperature 

 than glass could bear earthen retorts are used ; for 

 the preparation of hydrofluoric acid retorts of lead 

 are employed ; while for the preparation of strong 

 sulphuric acid platinum is the best material for 

 the retort. Iron retorts are employed in the 

 laboratory for the preparation of oxygen from black 

 oxide of manganese and some other processes, and 

 in gas-works for the destructive distillation of coal. 

 See DISTILLATION. 



Rctours. See RECORDS (Scotland). 



Retreat* a period of retirement to a religious 

 house, for self -examination, meditation, and prayer. 

 Retreats commonly last either three or seven days, 

 and are conducted by a cleric, who delivers ad- 

 dresses daily. They are in use both in the Roman 

 and, among the High Church party, in the Anglican 

 Church. 



Retriever. As the name implies, the retriever 

 is a breed of dog trained to find out and bring back 

 any killed or wounded game. The work of the 

 retriever was long done by various breeds of dogs, 

 such as the pointer, setter, or spaniel, but, in 

 addition to it spoiling these dogs for their regular 

 work, they were found to be too hard-monthed, 

 the worst fault possible in a retriever, as he wastes 

 more in game injured than would have lieen lost 

 without him. Crosses with the Newfoundland 

 were tried, and gradually two kinds of retriever 

 were introduced. One variety, known as wavy- 

 coated, was probably the result of a cross with the 

 setter ; and the other, known as curly- coated, is 

 from the water-spaniel or poodle. Not much 

 attention was paid to the retriever until the intro- 

 duction of dog shows, about 1850, but since that 

 time the breed has been kept free from any fresh 

 cross, with a great improvement in the appearance. 

 The two varieties of retriever differ only in coat ; 

 the curly coat should curl closely and firmly all 

 over the body, the wavy coat should fall straight 

 and thick. An intelligent large head, with a full 

 clear eye, should always be seen in the retriever. 

 Legs and -feet need to be large and strong. The 

 retriever should not be too small, as it needs a 

 powerful dog to retrieve a hare successfully. The 

 retriever makes a very good watch-dog, and number- 

 less bad specimens of the breed are to be found 

 fulfilling this vocation only. The pure retriever is 

 gentle in temper and easy to command. 



Retrograde, in Astronomy, a term applied to 

 the motion (real or apparent) of a celestial body 

 when that is opposite in direction to the yearly 

 course of the sun from west to east. The superior 

 Planets (q.v.) retrograde when in opposition (see 

 CONJUNCTION). As their motion is then nearly 

 parallel to the earth's, they, moving more slowly 

 than it, appear to fall behind for a time. This 

 period of retrogradation is of course longer for the 

 planets whose motion is slower, and less for those 

 whose speed more nearly approaches that of the 

 earth. The inferior planets, which move faster 

 than the earth, retrograde when in inferior con- 

 junction. Their course being then nearly parallel 

 to the earth's, they gain upon it, and appear to 

 pass the sun from east to west. Thus Venus, 

 when nearing the end of her appearance as an 

 evening star, descends each night nearer to the 

 western horizon, until so near the sun as to be lost 

 in his rays. Passing then to his west side, the 

 planet reappears as a morning star. 



Retz, JEAN FRANCOIS PAUL DE GONDI, CAR- 

 DINAL DE, was born at Montmirail in 1614, of a 

 family originally Italian, that had acquired great 

 estates in Brittany and formed connections with 

 the noblest families of France. His uncle was 

 Archbishop of Paris, and he was early destined for 

 the church in spite of amours, duels, and every 



